A week from today we will be riding our little bikes onto a ferry that'll take us over to Spain where our adventure begins. 6 months ago we had no motorcycles, had never even ridden one before, yet here we are today, fully equipped with bikes, licenses, a never-ending list of gear, and the same determined minds; nothing can stop us now. The other day we tested the bikes fully loaded for the first time, rode them all day long to get adjusted to the feel, through horrendous rain and even some sleet, it felt great, absolutely marvelous! Truly!
However as the departure date approaches I must acknowledge my fondness of the planning stage that is now over. It is a lovely thing to sit somewhere cosy and warm, reading about far off places; traveling down a road through great chasms and ravines on google earth street view. It allows me dream, I can imagine myself traveling through these places, but in a rather romanticized way, I'm capable of going everywhere and seeing everything without having to think of any practicalities, get wet, or feel cold, I can do it all from my birds eye view behind my screen with google earth. I'm not saying its the same as actually traveling, of course I'd much rather be able to breath the fresh air, feel the wind and rain on my face, and get stuck in a muddy ditch (kinda!). I guess I'm just saying that when you can't actually be out there, then being able to imagine yourself there and prepare for the real event is the next best thing
Although I am rather organized and have spreadsheets showing every item of equipment we are bringing, along with its weight, fully colour coded, I have not picked out any particular route or roads that we will take, nor have we booked anything far in advance yet, as we don't want to be tied down to any timelines, or controlled by the clock, we simply want to travel where we want, when we want, at what speed we want. Freedom matters most!
So, here goes...